Day #8 Seattle

Were arrived back in Seattle today. Before leaving the ship we had breakfast at the King's table one more time. Disembarking was a piece of cake but getting out of the pier area was another story. We piled all our suitcases on the curb were I again waited while John went to retrieve our vehicle. It did not take him long to come back for me but when he got out of the car he noticed that my car had a flat. Boy was that a mess. The traffic was very congested as many passengers were being picked up, and cars are not to stop for more that a minute or two to load & pickup. In all this business we had to change the tire while other cars waited or tried to make their way around us.

John can be very sensitive about me offering any assistance when it comes to traditional MAN things. Since there were so many people observing us I decided to not even go there so as to not create a scene if John were to have an "I can do it" attitude. I was tempted several times, believe me. I just took care of loading the suit cases by puzzling them around to make them fit. Here is the kicker... an oriental lady not much younger than myself who notice that John was having trouble unscrewing the nuts by himself, went over to help him. Being the gentleman that he is, he let her help him instead of telling her off. I was grateful for his accepting her help and yet at the same time bothered that he would not have let me be the one to help without making a fuss about it. Yes I know, this is all speculation as the other lady stepped in just before I was about to do the same. But, I know my husband and I was trying to do the loving thing by giving him time attempt it by himself.

Our first stop in Seattle was Les Schwab. There was a large screw stuck in the tired that had entered at an angle creating a large hole. The tire could not be fixed but had to be replaced. Even though I purchased the tires but a few months ago, we had already put enough miles on it to not get a free replacement. We ended up having to pay about 1/3 of the cost of the new tire.

Our next stop was our hotel. We unloaded our needed luggage and checked in. We then had the car parked and hit the town. There was a great parade in Fremont along with a street fair that went on and on. The whole town was packed. We could barely move. In the parade were the usual floats and bands along with the BIG CITY folks that have a need to expose their painted nude bodies. Eventually we left taking the bus to downtown Seattle where we walked around Pike Market. The crowds there were not much better so after a while we just went back to our room for a little rest. At 5:00 PM there was some wine tasting in the lobby that we went to followed by an Asian dinner. And then...to bed.

No towel art tonight! :(